They don’t want to hear about angular momentum and gyroscopes and stuff. Just let them use training wheels until they can go on their own? And the idea of them out on a bicycle in this crazy traffic is scary enough.
Brilliant video.
From memory my grandpa just sort of hooked his hand under the seat and ran along with me for a while, until I got it. Then he ran alongside.
Of course there will be some mishaps, expect scratched knees and bruised fingers but once they’ve grasped it they never lose it - how’s that for a days work worth doing?
Oh and when they’re 40 they may remember you teaching them!
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]Brilliant video.
From memory my grandpa just sort of hooked his hand under the seat and ran along with me for a while, until I got it. Then he ran alongside.
Of course there will be some mishaps, expect scratched knees and bruised fingers but once they’ve grasped it they never lose it - how’s that for a days work worth doing?
Oh and when they’re 40 they may remember you teaching them![/quote]
Yep! And I’ve also found that your kid having another kid friend who learns how can speed up the learning curve. That worked with potty training, too, BTW.
My boy just learned how to ride, and he’s too big for his bike, though it fitted him perfectly when he got it. Gotta take the trainers off, though, or they’ll just gaily ride at an un-natural angle for ages. I thought I was going to break my back bending to hold his little bike and running behind it at the same time.
Anyway, he learned and then promptly got the bike taken away because everytime I turned my back he was headded for the open road! I’ve started letting him out with it again because he’s trying to teach his little buddy to ride his, but I watch him very closely, still. I understand the fear. And if those two get on the road by themselves, they’ll have the world taken over in no time.
Talking about training wheels, I had read somewhere that specialists adviced against them.
From personal experience, I am against them.
Yup, that’s it, do the running along beside and then letting go.
We learned on the plaza of the huge office building across from Alleycat’s Songren, so we didn’t have to deal with traffic for a long time.
Just dogshit and old fuckers shuffling along like zombies in pajamas…
Does the same method work with adults? My next project is teaching my wife. She wants training wheels, but I tell her in that case I won’t be seen with her.
Yes, I can confirm it does work for adults - I’ve managed to teach two adults that way.
The biggest difficulty is getting your subject to overcome the embarrassment of being watched by others in the park. Other than that, my subjects got the hang of it within about half an hour, which is quite good because it was pretty difficult running and keeping up to hold their seat for any much longer.
My dad never knew how to ride a bike.
I asked him why " I was too poor you dumb ass"
All I remember about learning was my orange Sears-Roebuck “Roadrunner” banana seat bike, a rope, a 1968 Buick Skylark and my uncle Charlie saying, “Keep your head up dumb-ass!” before he floored it.
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]Brilliant video.
From memory my grandpa just sort of hooked his hand under the seat and ran along with me for a while, until I got it. Then he ran alongside.
Of course there will be some mishaps, expect scratched knees and bruised fingers but once they’ve grasped it they never lose it - how’s that for a days work worth doing?
Oh and when they’re 40 they may remember you teaching them![/quote]
That’s exactly the way I did. Except that it was a roundabout in HKG and about 34 degrees, so after the second pass, they were riding and I was on the ground gasping for breath and dizzy. 'What’s wrong with you, Papa? Are you okay?"
My daughter went from being afraid to pedal to me yelling at her to slow down in about 15min.
I learned a few weeks ago in the Padua countryside. Now, me and my Raleigh (with a basket!) are inseparable because I don’t have to take buses! Wonderful.
How did I do it? I just watched and copied. Slowing down at corners was something I didn’t figure out on the first day (Ow.). My teacher kept an eye on the traffic for me, while I avoided ditches by fields, Mary shrines and white van man.
(OK, so I’m not a kid)
Thanks for all the advice. That’s kind of what I thought. We had training wheels on the bike, but after we took them off, he lost interest in trying to ride. It’s too hard.
Tell him to man up, take him to the top of a hill, and give him a push 
This is exactly why my son didn’t learn to ride his bike unitl it was too small for him. Get him a playmate who can ride. Really, he’ll want to be able to keep up. If not, then he’s just not ready yet and will come back to it later. No worries–and no worries about traffic yet, too.
Yeah, they both of them got bikes and bike helmets and they never get used. It seems like such a waste.
My boy had completely forgotten about his bike until his older girl cousin learned to ride hers. Then, when we visited her, his favorite playmate, she wouldn’t get off her bike to play with him. So, he ran around behind her! No kidding, as fast as she’d ride, he’d break his neck trying to run and keep up. It was very, very pathetic to watch. So I brought him his bike and told him to learn to ride it so he could ride with her. And he did! In about 15 minutes. It took him longer to figure out how to break, but his legs were so long he could just use his feet. Honestly, it’s still a bit pathetic looking because he looks like he’s riding a clown bike and no matter how fast he peddals, he can only go as fast as the little tires will carry him. But he love it. LOVES it. If I wasn’t planning to try to move us soon, I’d get him another one. It’ll just have to wait.
It’s also most utile to ingrain the bairns with a sense of space, and their movement amongst it.
It stands to reason that folks raised in proper order with the bicycle are not usually prone to faulty auto tendencies. Or even poor pedantics…
A sound strategy all around: Always maintain an active reserve......
HuZZah!Haha, that is exactly what my nanny did when I was 5. She just took me to the top of a grassy slope and gave me a gentle push. It worked!
I doubt training wheels will help anyone to ride a bicycle. I suspect it will have the opposite effect. The old-fashioned way of running behind telling your kid your holding them works. Once they seem to be riding, just let go and watch them cycle away.I taught many kids like this. Shouldn’t take very long.
My also wife learned this way a couple of years ago, and initially struggled with breaking, but otherwise no problems.
I don’t have a kid yet but be supportive. Shouldn’t take more than 2 hours of practice to get the idea.
We made a few efforts last Spring, but didn’t quite get there. I’m sure part of the problem was her really heavy, crappy bike with big thick tires, that is way too small for her and was a gift from a friend. Next Spring I’ll buy her a nicer, bigger bike and I’m confident we’ll master it quickly.
No hurry though, as she started roller skating lessons a few months ago, so that keeps her plenty busy and gives her plenty of exercise for now. But I am looking forward to some day taking family cycling excursions, all of us on our own separate (nice) bikes.